Sunday, November 24, 2013

Someone knelt by Silay's side, and
gently removed the blindfold. Silay blinked. It was dim in the room, and it
took her a moment to see Riya's face looking at her with concern. Riya removed
the gagged. "Are you all right?"

"I think so. My head hurts,
though."

Riya nodded, and quickly untied the
ropes around Silay's wrists and ankles. She paused, looking at the dried blood
on her wrists. "I should have taught you not to struggle against ropes. I
wish we had something to put on that."

"I'm fine." Silay pulled
her wrists out of Riya's grasp.

Riya rocked back on her heels and settled on the ground.
Jarlen joined them, slowly lowering himself to the floor. He looked at the two
women.

"Well, this is quite the mess
we've gotten ourselves into," he said.

"What happened?" Silay
asked. "You were gone when I got to the road."

"Ambush." Riya rubbed her
eyes. "And now we have no horses, and no supplies."

"And no magic." Jarlen
looked pointedly at Riya. Silay followed his gaze.

"Riya! It's one of those
collar things again, isn't it?"

Riya nodded.

"Can we cut it off? Remove it
somehow?"

"They're spelled, Silay. Only
someone with the counter-spell can remove it. Otherwise, what would be the
point?"

"So, nothing?"

Jarlen and Riya both shook their
heads no, and for the first time Silay noticed how worn they looked. Jarlen's
left arm was wrapped up in a piece of his shirt, and Riya had a deep bruise spreading across her face. Silay dropped her head into her hands. "This is
all my fault. I decided we should investigate the shouts."

Riya put her arm around Silay's
shoulder. "You tried to do the right thing. And I don't think you could
have kept me from trying to help anyways."

"But what do we do now?"

"We stay put." Jarlen
stood up. "We have shelter for the night, and it's unlikely anyone will
disturb us here.Tomorrow we'll
find food and water, and decided what to do from there."

Silay raised her head. "Well,
at least we've learned something."

"What's that?"

"You were right, Riya. Someone
is behind the plague."
______________________My 51st post just in time for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who!

Monday, November 11, 2013

It had been decades since a Hero had been born in Dagrosa
when Talis received his Destiny. Though he isn't destined to be a Hero,
greatness is considered a Hero-like destiny, and so dictated his training.
Besides the basic education given to all children in Dagrosa, Talis was taught
what is considered Hero skills: horseback riding, hand-to-hand combat, sword
fighting, survival skills, etc.

Talis keeps his hair cut short. He typically wears soft
leather pants tucked into his boots and un-dyed, cotton long-sleeved tunics.
His tunic buttons at the wrists and is tucked into his pants. He wears a sword
belt with two sheaths, one holding a sword and one holding a dagger.

Talis has always struggled with his Destiny. Though he
wasn't a Hero, he left Dagrosa when he was 20 to begin a Quest in the hope of
discovering his path to greatness. Since then he has travelled from city to
city, gathering news, and going wherever he heard rumors about unrest, or
anything else that might hint at trouble he could help fix.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Silay heard a chair being dragged
against the floor, stopping by her feet. There was a moment of silence, then
the stranger began to speak.

"First, I should tell you
that I have a spell which allows me to tell when lies are told. It would not be
a good idea for you to lie to me.Understand?"

Silay nodded, and immediately
regretted it. Her head was still throbbing.

"Good. Let's start with the
basics, shall we? What is your name?"

"Silay Gallegis." Her
voice sounded strange in her ears.

"Thank you." There was a
pause, then he continued. "I've been given to understand that people from
your city are told their destinies. What is yours?"

For a moment, Silay considered
lying. She was fairly certain the man's spell wouldn't work on her. But she
didn't know what Talis had told him. "I don't have one."

"Why not?"

Silay shifted her position, and
felt the tug of the ropes on her wrists and ankles. The longer she sat here,
the tighter they felt. "I don't know. The Seer just couldn't see my
future." Talking to a person she couldn't see was very disconcerting. She
shifted again, straining against her bonds.

The man noticed. "You would be
more comfortable if you didn't struggle." He paused. "Tell me what it is
you and your companions are trying to do."

"Stop the plague." The
man had yet to ask any questions Talis didn't already know the answer to.

"And how do you plan to do
this?"

Silay struggled to sit up
straighter, the advice Jarlen had given her back when she'd first met him
running through her mind. Be confident. "That's none of your
business!"

The man laughed. "Shall I tell
you what I think? I think you don't know. Your Seers have seen the results of a
plague, but try as the might, they can't see how it began. And so they've sent
the one other thing they can't see anything about to try to stop it."

"That's not true!"

The man laughed again. "I
don't need a truth spell to tell you're lying. Kade was right. You present no
threat."Silay heard a
scraping sound, and when the man spoke again, his voice came from further above
her head. "I think we have wasted our time here." There were
footsteps as he crossed the room again. "Gag her. She's of no further use,
and we have business elsewhere."

"We're just going to leave
her?" It was Talis' voice.

"Be grateful my orders aren't
to kill her. Do as you're told."

Silay felt Talis' hand near her
mouth and twisted. Her teeth closed down on something soft.

"Ow!" The hand jerked
away.

From across the room, the man
chuckled. "I'm beginning to think you're as useless as she is. Now hurry
up."

Silay struggled as Talis tried to
get the gag in her mouth, but he was stronger than her and finally succeeded.
She heard to two sets of footsteps walk away, and then a door slammed. Silay
struggled against the ropes, ignoring the pain as they rubbed against her skin.
She had to get out. She had no idea where she was, or if anyone would find her.
But the ropes didn't give, and eventually she leaned back against the wall,exhausted. The pain in her head was
increasing, and she was having trouble breathing through the gag. She had to
calm herself down. Forcing herself to breath slowly, she began to fall into a
kind of half-sleep, half-stupor.

_________________

Here are the important questions: Where are Jarlen and Riya? Who is the strange man? What has Talis gotten himself into? How am I going to write Silay out of this situation? And, of course...What happened to the character profile I said would go up on Wednesday?

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Her head was the first thing Silay
noticed. It felt like someone was hammering on her skull. She kept her eyes closed,
hoping the pain would go away. It didn’t, but the pounding sound in her ears
lessened. She opened her eyes. Everything was still dark. Had something
happened to her eyes? But no. She could feel the cloth pressing against her
forehead. A blindfold. She tried to take it off, and for the second time in her
life found that her hands and been bound behind her back. Talis! It had been
Talis again. And someone else. Kade. The seer Riya had sent her to back at the festival.

Gently, Silay tugged at the ropes
around her wrist. They didn’t move. Her ankles, too, were tied together. At
least she seemed to be propped against a wall instead of tied to a tree. She
carefully took stock of her situation. She was tied up, blindfolded, and
gagged, but other than her head, nothing else seemed to be hurt. That was good
at least. If only she knew where she was, or what had happened to Riya or
Jarlen.

“I think your friend is awake.” It
was a man’s voice, one Silay didn't recognize.

“I told you, she’s not my friend.”
The second speaker was Talis. “When will Kade be back?”

“When he’s done.”

“Done with what?”

“That’s not your concern.” A pause.
“Check on the girl.”

Footsteps moved towards her, than a
hand touched her face. Silay flinched and the hand pulled back.

“By the gods, Silay. I’m not
going to hurt you.” Talis’ voice was right in front of her. “I’m just taking
the gag out.”

The other man spoke. “You can yell,
if you want. But I've warded the room against sound.”

Silay doubted she could have yelled
even if she wanted to. Just the thought of loud noises made her head throb. She
held still while Talis removed her gag. Something pressed against her mouth. A
waterskin. Silay managed to gulp down a mouthful before Talis pulled it back.

“Where are Riya and Jarlen?” Her
voice was raspy.

“They are secured. Like you.”
Another set of footsteps moved toward her, someone with a longer stride than
Talis. “There are some questions we would like to ask you.”

___________________

Dun, dun, dahhhh! Intrigue, suspense, danger, and a splitting headache! What will happen next? Will Silay escape her captors? Tune back next week for the continuing adventure of Undestined!!!